Earlier this year, I decided to have a little fun tracking down some deep-sky objects in Andromeda with the smallest telescope I own: a 2.4-inch (60mm) f/12 refractor. Many serious backyard astronomers might consider a scope of this size nothing more than a child’s toy, but I know better.
The scope I used was an upgrade from the poor-quality 2.4-inch units that pervaded the market a few decades ago. No need to struggle with a rickety alt-az mount or squint through a cheap plastic finder scope or subpar 0.975″ eyepiece. My current model is supported by a sturdy go-to mount (though I opted to use the manual mode and star-hop to each target), comes equipped with a red-dot finder, and accepts standard 11/4″ eyepieces.
Here’s a summary of my small-scope Andromeda adventure. I show the notes I took that night in italics.
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